Summary of the Speech at the Bohemiae Foundation in Prague, Czech Republic 29th April 1996

"NATO is taking up the challenge presented by the new circumstances on our continent" Secretary General Solana PRAGUE: The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Mr. Javier Solana, said today that the Alliance's objective was "to safeguard and further our democratic values and to support the widening integrative process of the new Europe". Addressing the Bohemiae Foundation during his official visit to the Czech Republic, Mr. Solana stressed that NATO was achieving this objective by addressing concrete security issues... "This is amply demonstrated in Bosnia where NATO is spearheading the international force assembled to implement the Peace Accords". He pointed out that IFOR is "not NATO alone" but "rather, a real 'coalition for peace'. For the first time in the Alliance's 47-year history, the Allies have been joined by other nations - 17 of them...including even countries from beyond Europe". The Secretary General said that "together we are working to secure for the long-term the hard-won peace, and thus enable the reconstruction of a viable and peaceful civil society in Bosnia-Herzegovina...The safe environment and restored climate of confidence which IFOR is aiming to create are an essential underpinning for the preparations for the elections to be held later this year". He stressed, in particular, that "the period up to the elections, and the elections themselves, will be crucial in ensuring that we can build lasting peace in Bosnia". Mr. Solana also reminded his audience that "IFOR did not come about by accident. Without the preparation in the Partnership for Peace, it could not have been assembled so quickly and effectively. The Partnership has put a premium on practical cooperation to develop the capability for Partners and Allies alike to work together jointly in a range of peacekeeping-type operations".

The Secretary General said that "IFOR and the Partnership for Peace are vivid examples of a Europe growing together. Obviously, the closest form of integration is membership. It is in recognition of this "logic of inclusion" that NATO leaders at their Summit in January 1994 made the commitment in principle to the addition of new members to the Alliance. The project called "Europe" cannot be limited to a line artificially drawn almost 50 years ago. It is a simple fact that countries which have come to share the values which NATO was created to defend must have open to them the opportunity of joining our Alliance...NATO enlargement will happen. The free choice of alignment must be the very basis on which the new Europe must be built". Mr. Solana also stressed that "those who join will be full members with all the benefits and obligations that membership implies. NATO is not interested in semi-detached members, and we are certainly not interested in ideas for political but not military membership of NATO". He also said that "before we can identify specific candidates for membership, we need to conduct a dialogue with interested parties. This dialogue is currently taking place and will keep us busy for the remainder of this year... The current NATO Allies must thoroughly assess how new members will impact on the political and military structures of the Alliance. And those aspiring to become members must carefully consider the implications NATO membership will have for them: how it will affect their political and military environment and how they see themselves contributing to our overall security. In my view, this is a matter that must not be confined to expert circles, but to a broader public debate". Finally, the Secretary General said that "we must also ensure that, as we proceed with enlargement, we build a security environment which provides reassurance and confidence to all countries, whether they belong to NATO or not. What we want is a Europe without the Cold War dividing lines. It is a Europe in which a democratic Russia has its rightful place...A strong bond between NATO and Russia must be a key element of the new European security order". Mr. Solana, referring to the IFOR in Bosnia, added that "the beginning of such a close NATO/Russia relationship is already well underway...But cooperation in Bosnia is not enough. We have proposed to Russia a relationship that would allow us to tackle a far wider set of issues: to prevent and end regional crises and conflicts, to prevent nuclear proliferation; to devise common strategies for dealing with new security challenges; and to develop together a cooperative approach to European security...We will continue this pursuit".